The obese marathon mouse

As the name implies, Dummerstorf marathon mice are bred to run. If allowed to be sedentary, these animals can build up quite a bit of fat within their peripheral tissues even if they do not overeat. If given an exercise wheel, however, they burn fat very quickly.

In a new study published in the Journal of Comparative Physiology - B, researchers discovered that the livers of these mice have an increased ability to not only store fat but to also rapidly mobilize fat when necessary for exercise. If they are able to identify genes or proteins that can turn on (or off) similar signaling pathways to promote fat mobilization and utilization in humans, the research may be relevant to the treatment of obesity or perhaps non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

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If this works, this guy is going to make a bagillion dollars:
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Skipping breakfast is another reason that prevents you from burning belly fat. Research has shown that people who skip breakfast have a tendency to store abdominal fat. When you skip breakfast, you activate your body’s starvation response.

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You may be wondering why I have been so sentimental even though the year is not over yet. I am happy to inform you that it is not because I am retiring. On the contrary, I am packing up my virtual bags and moving this blog to a new site! Pardon the dust while we get settled into our new digs.

And the #1 blog entry published thus far in 2017 discussed whether there was an evolutionary advantage to being stupid:
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Here is the 4th most popular post so far this year:
Picture of a komodo dragon by CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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As I write this, I'm told that there are eleven water cannon vehicles heading to the disaster-stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, to attempt to cool down nuclear material that is exposed and exuding (I dare not use the word "leaking" lest I be thought an alarmist) radiation at a rate that seems to be as alarming to the engineers and nuclear experts on the scene as it is assuaging to…

Prepare yourself.
The Te Papa Museum of New Zealand has a new specimen locked in a vault: a colossal squid that will be thawed and dissected (they think!) on streaming video.
Here is the necromantic chamber.
Wait! No protective runes, no array of emergency thuribles, no pentagram, no mysterious idols of jade and obsidian? This may not go well.